Her Story
About Holly
Holly Warner is a dedicated membership and community engagement professional who currently serves as a Membership Manager with Girl Scouts of Ohio's Heartland in Columbus, Ohio. Passionate about empowering young people, she focuses on expanding access to leadership development opportunities for girls in grades K–12 while building strong relationships with families, volunteers, schools, and community partners. Through her work, Holly helps connect girls to programs that foster courage, confidence, character, and a lifelong commitment to making a positive impact in their communities.
In her role, Holly is responsible for recruiting and supporting both youth members and adult volunteers, helping to strengthen and grow the organization's reach throughout Central Ohio. She is actively involved in organizing community events, informational programs, and outreach initiatives that introduce families to the benefits of Girl Scouting, including leadership development, STEM education, outdoor adventures, entrepreneurship, life skills training, and service-learning opportunities. Her ability to engage diverse audiences and create meaningful community connections has made her a valuable advocate for youth development and volunteerism.
Driven by a genuine passion for service, Holly is committed to creating opportunities that inspire the next generation of leaders. She believes in the power of mentorship, community involvement, and experiential learning to help young people realize their potential and achieve lasting success. Through her leadership and dedication, Holly continues to make a meaningful difference in the lives of girls, volunteers, and families while advancing the mission of Girl Scouting and strengthening the communities she serves.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Holly
01What do you attribute your success to?
I guess what I could say is just that my biggest achievement is now being able to do something that my life is kind of merging into everything that I asked for, without even having the experience to do it. From where I've come from to where I'm at now, I never in my life would have thought that I would be able to be in a position that I'm at now without having schooling. I thought my life was going to be revolved around working at McDonald's or Burger King or something like that, because I didn't have any schooling. But I started at the bottom in all of my positions and worked my way up. Everything that I've learned has been from somebody who seen something in me and pulled me under their wing. I'm one of those people that I like to grow in my position, and I just kept going and never gave up.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
With my first job, I was told don't ever limit yourself. Don't ever limit yourself to one thing. You are capable of doing whatever you put your mind to. You might not succeed at that very moment, but as you keep trying and the more you get up again, eventually you're gonna master it if you can learn through those mistakes. That's what I would say.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
No matter what your background, no matter what you've been through, and no matter how you think about a situation because of what you've went through and limiting yourself, I would give them advice that you know what, you're gonna be okay, and you can do whatever you want. Just keep your focus on what it is that you want and keep going for it. Keep going for it. And I promise you, you're gonna have it. You're gonna have it one day. Never give up.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
A lot of the challenges in my field right now are not about going and being able to talk to the girls or getting them excited in the program that we offer. It's actually the economy and money issues. Even though our program is, to me, super cheap at $50 a year when you're looking at all that you're given with the program, the areas that I run are so low income. There's a lot of single-parent families, and they don't have a lot of transportation. So the biggest issue right now is the economy, and just not having enough money to actually get their girls involved in things because they can't afford it.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Communication is the biggest thing for me. If you cannot communicate with people, then there's just nothing that can be done. Communication is huge. Honesty is huge. Just sticking true to who you are, being authentic with yourself and with other people, and being kind. We're not always going to understand each other, and not everybody is going to agree with what you say, but we should value each other's opinions, and not be critical or just a jerk about it.
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